1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication control technology for mobile communication devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for controlling a discontinuous reception in the mobile devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation of a mobile device is triggered by a timer or commands provided by a mobile communication system. A control operation for a discontinuous reception in a mobile device according to the related art is described below.
One method for discontinuous reception operation method is based on a timer. This method is controlled by the network, depending on RRCConnectionReconfiguration Message, RRCConnectionSetup Message, RRCConnectionReestablishment Message, and drx-Config field (drx-Config in mac-MainConfig in RadioResourceConfigDedicated) contained in three OTA Messages. The drx-Config field is shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1DRX-Config ::=CHOICE {ReleaseNULL,SetupSEQUENCE {onDurationTimerENUMERATED {psf1, psf2, psf3, psf4, psf5,psf6,psf8, psf10, psf20, psf30,psf40,psf50, psf60, psf80, psf100,psf200},drx-InactivityTimer ENUMERATED {psf1, psf2, psf3, psf4, psf5,psf6,psf8, psf10, psf20, psf30,psf40,psf50, psf60, psf80, psf100,psf200, psf300, psf500,psf750,psf1280, psf1920, psf2560,spare10,spare9, spare8, spare7,spare6,spare5, spare4, spare3,spare2,spare1},drx-RetransmissionTimer ENUMERATED {psf1, psf2, psf4, psf6, psf8,psf16,psf24, psf33},longDRX-CycleStartOffsetCHOICE {sf10INTEGER(0..9),sf20INTEGER(0..19),sf32INTEGER(0..31),sf40INTEGER(0..39),sf64INTEGER(0..63),sf80INTEGER(0..79),sf128INTEGER(0..127),sf160INTEGER(0..159),sf256INTEGER(0..255),sf320INTEGER(0..319),sf512INTEGER(0..511),sf640INTEGER(0..639),sf1024INTEGER(0..1023),sf1280INTEGER(0..1279),sf2048INTEGER(0..2047),sf2560INTEGER(0..2559)},shortDRXSEQUENCE {shortDRX-CycleENUMERATED {sf2, sf5, sf8, sf10, sf16, sf20,sf32, sf40, sf64, sf80, sf128,sf160,sf256, sf320, sf512, sf640},drxShortCycleTimer INTEGER (1..16)}OPTIONAL- Need OR
Another discontinuous reception operation method is based on commands, as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a discontinuous reception operation based on commands in a mobile device according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the device may operate in a cycle of three modes (i.e., long DRX, short DRX, and continuous reception). In a mobile communication system, the continuous reception is triggered in response to a scheduling message reception as indicated by a reference numeral 133, and PDCCH data can be found in all zones as indicated by a reference numeral 113. The short DRX is triggered in response to the expiration of an inactivity timer or a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) reception as indicated by a reference numeral 135. PDCCH may be received only in the on-duration zone, and a DRX mode (sleep) is performed in the other zones. The long DRX is triggered in response to the expiration of a short DRX cycle timer as indicated by a reference numeral 137.
In a mobile communication system according to the related art, the device performs DRX mode transition in response to only the value of a timer or commands provided by the system. However, in these methods, the device may operate in the continuous reception mode or short DRX mode even when data session is not actually used. This may cause the data reception standby time of the device to become longer. For example, when a browser or messenger application is used, mode transition is repeatedly made due to frequent download of low-capacity data. Repetition of circumstances where the device downloads data in the continuous reception mode and remains in the short DRX mode may unfavorably increase power consumption of the device.